CHAPTER 16

Just like every other Omega in a pack, Mila was one of the lowly one. Truth be told, she was the lowest of the Omegas and the youngest. At eighteen, she had learnt to walk with her head bent, her shoulders hunched and her amber eyes having a blank and uncertain quality to them. She had learnt to also dress the part, always in muted colors, all not to draw unnecessary attention to herself.
She had realized at a very young age that her looks drew attention and she had learnt in the hardest way that she needed to tone down the look by hiding under ugly dresses and caps for her hair.
The Crescent pack was not excessively violent and most people were not physically abusive towards her. She had a lot more of the emotional abuse and trauma of being treated like a modern slave like every other Omega when anyone actually paid attention to her but that was rare. She had learnt to blend in so well that she had become like a nonexistent member of the pack, even to fellow Omegas.
Both her parents had been Omegas and they had been of no consequence so her life in the pack had also played out that way.
She kept mostly to herself and rarely did any talking to anyone. She lived on the brink of the territory, where most of the other Omegas also stayed, except those mated to higher wolves in the pack. Sometimes,when people finally noticed her, they got confused if she was actually a member of the pack and very few knew her name.
But like every rusty situation in her life, like not finding a mate, she had worked the situation to her advantage. She could go in and out of places unnoticed and unhindered, like she was almost invisible. She knew everything that was going on within the pack, from the ache in the Alpha's heart to the devious plots of one of her fellow Omegas to rob his neighbour. People talked like she was not there and she always got an earful. To her she was the eyes and ears of the pack, an outsider looking in to the unfolding dramas that they could not see.
And what more? She had been marked by the goddess with the gift to see, more like the old Luna's gift but hers was with more precision and no one knew that, not even her parents before they died. Mila was comfortable with only her knowing her secret. That way, she was saved from harm and being used.
Life was good. She was unhindered and free, no mate holding her down. When she was sixteen, she had wanted one but not anymore.
Now, she just wanted peace to continue to reign within the pack. She had not been a witness to any war but her parents had been and they had lived with the trauma, as Omegas were the ones that bore the brunt of brutal wars with other packs long after it was over.
She wished never to experience that.
But that was unlikely. She had seen it, revealed to her through her gift and she had been scared.
She had seen bloodshed, pain and fear. She had seen the bitterness of betrayal. The blood was that of her own pack and she had felt firsthand the pangs of suffering and tears mixed in with the blood.
The pack was going to suffer, starting with the Alpha. She had seen him taking most of the agonizing throes, shedding the most tear because he was going to lose his loved ones and it had pained her greatly.
Alpha Asher had not been pack leader for long but in the little time since he started ruling, the pack had witnessed a form of calmness, even if it was false. It was no news that members of the pack did not want him as their leader, despite being chosen by the Moon goddess. But it was just the people at the top. Most Omegas, like herself were definitely happy with the peace.
While Alpha Adam had ruled, Omegas had been the ones to suffer for the betrayal of his wife because she had committed her dirty act with another Omega. The Alpha had not for a day throughout his existence forgotten that. He had made every single one of them with the dirty blood pay.
Even though they were people that could go out to work for what they needed, he had made them pass up such opportunities, making them solely dependant on him, as it should be really, since he was the Alpha. But the world was changing and they were evolving with it but the Alpha had ruled over that. Little children had starved and he had watched with glee. She hated the man and had taken deep sighs of relieve when he died.
But the new Alpha made their lives easier and he deserved peace, he deserved to be happy. He did not deserve what was coming his way and what made her really helpless was that she could not change anything about what she saw. She had only been given the gift to see, not influence. Besides, she did not even have a voice that could be heard.
She was left with nothing but hope. It was her only strength and she held on tightly to it. She believed the goddess had picked him despite all odds and it must certainly be for a good reason, her optimistic mind assured her. The goddess would not watch him suffer. The Alpha was definitely favoured and she believed he would overcome the storm coming his way.
But she could not stop thinking; Was there something she could do? What was the reason she had gotten to see it all if what she had seen was all useless to someone like her, without any relevance in the pack? Could it be she had a role to play in it all? Was the moon goddess showing her so she could warn the Alpha and what was a warning going to do when what was coming was inevitable?
All those questions plagued her young mind as she sat at the summit of one of the tallest mountains in the territory, looking down at the peaceful, blooming lands of Crescent pack.
Just on top of that mountain days before, she had witnessed a shocking sight.
She had seen the old Beta, cowering before a fearsome wolf. Even from her high perch and long distance from them, the wolf had made chills run down her spine. His stance had been like that of a tracker, looking for an unsuspecting prey and she had also cowered and simmered down. She had shifted into her wolf form and lowered herself to blend in with her surroundings, scared of being seen. And that was new to her.
Normally, she never worried about being seen because it never happened but with the wolf, she had been so certain that if she made the littlest movement, he would come for her. Beyond that fear, she had been more scared and worried about what would happen to her if she happened to draw his attention. So she had blended into the environment and in her wolf form, she had been able to see clearer and hear better what was being said and it had shocked her when she could make out what was happening.
The wolf had shifted into a very handsome man and if Mila had not seen the cunning calculating look on his face, she would have declared him an angel among wolves with his well proportioned look and build. But the look had made her cringe and taken an instant dislike to him.
"He doesn't deserve to rule this pack, my Alpha," Thomas had said bowing to the other wolf in complete obedience, like he was truly the Alpha and the sight had angered Mila.
"What do you want me to do?," the stranger had asked with a sick, inviting smile and Thomas had finally looked up and said something in a whisper she could not make out from where she was.
But no one needed to tell her it was something bad, with the way the smile had lit up the face of the other wolf. She had felt her guts twisting helplessly as they continued on with their plot.
Then when they were done talking, Thomas had bowed to him again and the wolf had shifted and moved off the territory. She knew he was not a member of her own pack but that had confirmed it. Thomas was plotting with another pack against the Alpha.
What she had seen was beyond her. She could not go up against a former Beta, father of the present Beta who also happens to be one of the ruling elders in the pack's Council. What was she going to say ? No one was going to take her words over his and she was scared of going to the Alpha. There was a possibility he would not believe the words of a mere Omega and he would laugh in her face, or have her hung before the whole pack.
She sighed in defeat. She needed someone fast, someone who would believe her and take her seriously. Someone who would never doubt her word. But who?
Who in the Crescent pack was it going to be? Or outside the pack? She asked herself as she continued to stare down at the beautiful scenery before her.
The sight before her was so peaceful she thought to herself, "This isn't going to be for much longer." The thought made her shiver delicately.